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Chris Brown Talks Retiring from Music: See 11 More Stars Who Threatened to Quit the Biz

"Don't worry mainstream America. After this X album, it'll probably be my last album," Brown wrote. He later added, "Being famous is amazing when it's for ur music and talent. I'm tired of being famous for a mistake I made when I was 18. I'm cool & over it!"

But will Breezy really put down the mike for good? Here are 11 other stars who have threatened to quit show business...

1. Jay Z: The rapper announced his retirement in 2003, declaring The Black Album as his last piece of work, but that didn't last.

"I believed it for two years," he told Entertainment Weekly when he returned to the music scene in 2006. "But something, when you love it, is always tugging at you and itching, and I was putting it off. I started fumbling around to see if it felt good."

Since ending "the worst retirement in history," Hova released a handful of albums, including Watch the Throne and his latest Magna Carta Holy Grail, which continues to smash on the charts. And don't worry about Jay taking another retirement break. When asked whether or not MCHG would be his last album, he replied, "I tried that before, I wasn't so good at it. #mylaugh"

AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

2. Brangelina: OK, so this one's a twofer. The high-profile Hollywood couple and parents of six have both hinted at quitting acting in the near future.

Brad Pittsaid in 2011 that he would like to continue acting for three more years, adding, "I am really enjoying the producing side and development of stories and putting those pieces together. Getting stories to the plate that might have had a tougher times otherwise."

Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie talked about leaving the spotlight for good—even though she loves acting. In 2010, she told Vanity Fair, "It's not the most important thing in my life. Acting helped me as I was growing up. It helped me learn about myself, helped me travel, helped me understand life, express myself, all those wonderful things, so I'm very, very grateful, it's a fun job. It's a luxury. Look, I'm at work today in the middle of Venice. But I don't think I'll do it much longer."

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

3. Sean "Diddy" Combs: In 2004, this Bad Boy said that he would be quitting as a solo artist after his album, PD5, hit stores.

"I don't want nobody to just go crazy or nothing," Diddy said. "It's not going to be as dramatic or traumatic as Jay Z retiring."

Although the rapper did steer away from music to focus on other business ventures, he still had a few hit songs after his plan to retire, including "Come to Me" and "Last Night."

4. Alec Baldwin: The actor is known for quitting Twitter from time to time, but would the former 30 Rock star really say sayonara to show business?

Earlier last month, Baldwin said that he would "love" to quit acting in order to give his children normal lives.

"I have one dream in my life, and that is that this daughter I'm having—she comes to me about seven or eight years from now…and she says, 'Daddy, Susie's mom says you used to be on TV. Daddy, is that true?' She has no knowledge of me as a public person," he told Vanity Fair. "That would be heaven for me."

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

5. Amanda Bynes: Before the former child star became what she is now, Bynes announced that she was done being an actress.

In March, the hunky Hollywood actor revealed that he has plans to take a break from being in front of the camera (which sucks for all of us that love to look at him).

"I've been doing it too much," the 32-year-old hunky actor said in an interview. "I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and reassess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. And I think this is probably a good way to learn about that. I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does."

7. Emma Watson: After being a part of a huge movie franchise, the Harry Potter star was unsure about her fate in the industry and took some time to clear her head.

"I basically took two years out and stepped as far away from it as I could," Watson told Total Film magazine. "I took time to really try and figure out who I was and what I wanted to do. I even considered not being an actress," she said.

However, she got back into the game, and most recently starred in the Sofia Coppola film Bling Ring.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

8. Nicole Kidman: Nearly five years ago, the actress admitted that her fire for making films had diminished.

"I have to say I'm not that interested in making films any more," Kidman told the Telegraph in 2008.

"I know I'm not meant to say that, but that's where it is for me now. I'm 41 years old and very happy being in Tennessee with my baby and with my husband. I obviously have creative blood in me and it needs to come out in some way, but I just don't have that burning desire any more. I'm not saying I'm never going to work again, but I'm at peace with whatever happens."

9. Joaquin Phoenix: "This will be my last performance as an actor. I'm not doing films anymore…I've been through that. I've done it…I'm dead serious," the Two Lovers actor announced in 2008, to spend more time focusing on his hip-hop music.

While chatting with the BBC to promote the U.K. release of The Lone Ranger, Depp hinted that there are "quieter" things he would eventually like to do other than making movies.

"I wouldn't say that I'm dropping out any second," Depp clarified, "but I would say it's probably not too far away." He also added, "At a certain point, you start thinking, and when you add up the amount of dialogue that you say per year, for example, and you realize that you've said written words more than you've actually had a chance to say your own words, you start thinking of that as a kind of insane option for a human being."

"I quit acting, actually. I quit Gossip Girl and now tour and am in a band and that's pretty much all I want to do. Hopefully I'll be able to only do that for the rest of my life," she said during an interview in 2011.

But this celeb actually stuck to her guns and has only been working on her music since.

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Your information may be shared with other NBCUniversal businesses and used to better tailor our services and advertising to you. For more details about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy. If you are located outside of the U.S., your information may be transferred to, processed and used in the U.S.